kate horses for courses transition

Kate Doughty will take her place at Rio’s Copacabana Beach this month where paratriathlon will make its Paralympic Games debut. Attending the Games has been a 20-year dream for the 33-year-old Melbournian, but instead of riding a bike, Kate envisioned her Paralympic fantasy to take place on a horse – in the dressage arena. Words: Keagan Ryan | Images: Delly Carr

KATE’SHORSES FOR COURSES TRANSITION

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Feature Story | Kate Doughty

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Kate Doughty wasn’t a triathlete until 2014. She didn’t know the difference between a time trial bike and a road bike. Two short years later and Kate is representing

Australia at the Rio Paralympics, continuing what has been a meteoric rise in the sport. Kate, who was born without a right hand, competes in the PT4 category, which comprises of athletes with a below-the-elbow arm amputation, below-the-knee amputation, partial loss of arm muscle power, lower limb deficiency or mild neurological impairments. While her para-triathlon career to date is only short, it’s already sweet – with ITU medals in Yokohama (two gold), Penrith (gold), Sunshine Coast (silver), Detroit (bronze) and Chicago (bronze). But up until two years ago Kate dreamed of representing Australia at the Paralympics by walking out her horse, Al Capone, into the dressage arena rather than wheeling her bike out of T1.

Kate had been a horse rider since the age of six. Triathlon was the farthest thing from her mind.

“I started out doing a lot of swimming from a young age, which proved to be quite a strength for me, so I did a lot of school swimming,” she said.

“But horses were in the blood. I was asked if I wanted to train with the para-swimmers, but being young I had to choose between swimming and equestrian; I couldn’t do both. Triathlon wasn’t on my radar at all. It wasn’t until 2008 when I started having a bit of interest.”

Kate’s decision to focus on equestrian was reinforced by constant success at the professional level, including multiple national championships across para-equestrian dressage and freestyle as well as a place at the 2010 World Equestrian Games. However, that 2010 competition would prove a defining moment in Kate’s professional sporting career as well as her life. In 2009-’10 Kate’s mother’s, Vicki, breast cancer returned. Naturally, this proved a difficult time for Kate but the challenges were magnified by the fact the mother and daughter were essentially a two-woman team for all of Kate’s equestrian career. Vicki shadowed Kate at every professional meet and was a constant source of support.

“My whole career had been Mum and I and the horses; that’s how it worked. She knew the highs and lows. If I had a one per cent difference in my scores, she knew what that meant rather than it being just a number,” Kate said.

“She was too sick at the time to be flying around for the qualifiers, so I was flying from camps in Melbourne and Toowoomba to the Sunshine Coast, where she was receiving


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treatment…I was all over the place. That was the only event (2010 World Equestrian Games) in my whole career that she was unable to be at…that was really tough.”

Vicki passed away two months after the World Equestrian Games. Obviously, losing someone you hold so dear is difficult but there were multiple ripple effects for Kate. A critical part of her equestrian career was missing but her mother’s passing was also an awakening of sorts.

“I think what I learnt from her health deteriorating so rapidly (Vicki was 60)…it was a real reality check,” she said.

“I had achieved everything I wanted to do in equestrian but I still wanted to go to the Paralympics, but I knew that wasn’t going to be with equestrian. I had a lot of heartache at the Worlds with my horse being sick…I nearly lost him before the event. So I thought, I don’t want to be 10 years down the track and doing the same thing. It was a melancholy moment.”

Kate retired from high-level para-equestrian in 2011 but she continued competing in able-body events at a reasonable level. It wasn’t the same and deep down she knew the best way to move on was to make a clean break from the sport that had been her livelihood.

“For me the only way I was going to be able to try new stuff, to even dabble in them, was really to close the doors totally on equestrian,” she said.

“Which was the hardest thing to do because the only one that can make that decision is me. I had to sell my horse that I’d had since he was four…my only real connection left with mum [outside of family]. It took four years to sell him but he went to a good home.

“I look back now and think it was one of the hardest, unknown decision I’ve made. But it’s been one of the best. I’ve learnt that life is short and you really have to jump and take the risks and see where you land. Losing Mum really taught me that.”

Taking the leap of faith from equestrian to triathlon has certainly paid off for Kate, who will proudly wear the green and gold in Rio. But the transition from horse to swim, bike, run wasn’t all smooth sailing. After all, equestrian had been second nature to Kate since she was six. On a professional level, it was essentially learning to walk again.

“I went from an elite high-performance level in one sport to triathlon, which was like going back to basics…I was a real novice. I didn’t even know how to clip my feet into the bike. I didn’t even know how to ride a road bike let alone a TT bike. I couldn’t even get into my wetsuit properly; I always needed help doing that. I



had no idea really,” she said. “But I guess that’s how you learn. You’ve got to start and throw yourself out there. All of it was quite foreign to me apart from swimming. I really had to build up a different cardiovascular system and build up different muscles. It was a challenge but I was enjoying it too. The tri community as a whole is really great; it’s very different from the equestrian world…everyone’s really supportive. I made sure I surrounded myself with people who knew more than me, but egos aside, there’s no judgement. It doesn’t matter if you’re an elite, an age-grouper or just starting out, there’s always support.

“What’s kept me successful, even in the equestrian years, is staying humble and true to yourself. You get out what you put in and it’s about doing the hard yards and making sacrifices. I am pretty chuffed but it’s been a long time coming. For 20 years I’ve always wanted to go to the Paralympics. I’ve been slogging away at this goal from all different angles for a long time. I’m on this journey and don’t plan on getting off anytime soon.”

Overcoming the death of her mother and completely reprogramming her body for a foreign sport wasn’t the first time Kate has faced adversity in her life. Growing up without a hand presented daily tests for Kate, especially during her school days. Kids can be insensitive but she learnt to deal with the bullying.

“For me, I was moulded by my parents. They wanted me to have every opportunity I could. Everyone gets bullied, it’s natural, but I learnt to be tough about it. I’d get comments like ‘where’s my hook?’ but I’d talk to the teachers about it and the kid would end up in the principal’s office, so I kind of won there. But I always had a big group of friends. Half of them would forget about it and say ‘oh give me a hand to do something’. So I’ve always been capable of figuring out how to do things,” Kate said.

“We had to learn a musical instrument in Grade 3, which was violin. They put myself and another girl with Down syndrome in another room while everyone else had music lessons. My parents weren’t too keen on that so I learnt to use a myoelectric hand. It would open and close based on my wrist movements. I did that for a couple of years and was lucky enough to meet the Rolling Stones after winning the Melbourne Junior Achiever Award in ’93.

“My parents always told the school; the teachers would know so it wasn’t awkward in class. The thing that outweighed not having a hand was the standard bullying, bitching and heartbreak with boys…the standard stuff of life was what bothered me more than anything.”

Outside of school, and more specifically in regards to triathlon, each race presents its own

challenge for Kate. As with any endurance event there are mental and physical obstacles to overcome, but Kate also has to combat the absence of a hand. Obviously the swim and, as she mentioned earlier, adjusting wetsuits are difficulties faced during a race, but there are also hurdles with training and preparing for events.

“Strength and conditioning can be challenging at times because my right arm and shoulder are never going to develop to the equal of my left – it won’t form that way. That can be a challenge and we’re constantly modifying things in the gym so we’re not overloading my left,” she said.

“The swim is always the biggest challenge. I have to really concentrate on the pull-through on

“I’M STILL SO YOUNG IN THE SPORT. I DON’T THINK I’VE REALLY FOUND WHAT MY LIMITS AND POTENTIAL MIGHT BE JUST YET.”



To contribute to the crowdfunding program for the Australian paratriathlon team go to http://asf.org.au/make-donation/australian-elite-paratriathlon-team

the right and I’m definitely limited on the right in the swim.

“Running with my bike, holding the saddle I balance my wrist on the saddle so I can have the other arm free. I can’t do a fly-mount very well plus I’m not that coordinated, so it doesn’t turn out well. I’ve modified my bike a bit now but when I’m up on the bars, if I slip I’ll pretty much fall off. Di2 is a godsend and I have dual break leavers, operated on one brake on the left.”

Even though triathlon doesn’t have the emotional connection to her mother that equestrian harnessed, Kate says she’s motivated by Vicki and will leave nothing in the tank at Rio. Kate believes her mother is beside her every step of the way, and often uses her spirit as a tool to help her refocus when the going gets tough.

“I’m not one to preach on spirituality, but I know she’s always around; in some way she’s always guiding me,” Kate said.

“Sometimes I wish she was around so I could ask her stuff because I’m hopeless at making decisions. So she’ll be there and I think about her in every race, especially in the water when I think ‘oh my God, I’m ready to finish now and I haven’t even gone 10 minutes’. I have her maiden name (Norton) tattooed on my wrist and the dragonfly, which symbolises strength. At the end of every race I’ll honour her and point to the sky…she definitely keeps me going.”

In terms of results, Kate only naturally dares to dream of a podium finish and having a medal, whether it is gold, silver or bronze, laid around her neck. But most importantly she wants to be able to look herself in the eye and know she gave the Paralympics everything she has. After all, it has been a 20-year dream in the making.

“My main thing apart from that (medalling) is knowing I’ve done everything possible to have the best performance on the day. I’ve made so many sacrifices…I just want to be able to finish with no regrets,” she said.

But what about post-Rio plans? Kate may be 33 but she’s only an infant in terms of her para-triathlon career, having only started a couple of years ago. After the Games she plans to stick to the ITU format and has already begun planning her year with training, races and the world championships.

“I’m still so young in the sport. I don’t think I’ve really found what my limits and potential might be just yet,” she said.

While her immediate future in Olympic-distance racing is assured, natural progression in triathlon almost assumes athletes advance to 70.3 and iron-distance events. Kate, however, isn’t convinced about any desires to extend beyond the sprint formats.

“There’s a bug in my head ticking away, just because I watch a few people and how they transition into long-course stuff. Part of me, deep down, hopes I don’t consider it, only for the sanity of my partner and myself,” she said.

“I don’t know what my body would do, so I don’t think I’d go further than 70.3…maybe for fun but I do love the sprint and ITU stuff.”

Triathlete, horse rider and public speaker, you’d think Kate has enough on her mind, but it’s above the shoulders where Kate arguably does her best work: as a registered psychologist


with a master of organisational and industrial psychology. Kate uses evidence-based techniques and methodologies to benefit individuals, teams and organisations and help them fulfil their potential.

“It started at a young age but it was more health psychology. But then I started to evolve into sports psychology with the high-performance element of equestrian,” she said.

“Organisations can benefit from high-performance psych and my passion for psych is about understanding people and getting the best out of them – whatever the environment. Looking at what makes that individual tick, team culture and organisations as a whole…it’s really about helping others identify and reach their goals.”

In a constant mental grind like triathlon you’d think such skills would be beneficial. Kate isn’t convinced, but she identifies where it helps and hinders her performance while competing.

“It can be my worst enemy at times. If I’m in a training set I’ll question myself, especially if I’m having a bad day. But part of me knows I’m using it as an outlet because I’m tired or fatigued. So it bothers me because I know I’m better than that,” she said.

“I think overall it helps. I think it’s helped me transition over and adjust to the new sport as quickly as I have. Even just understanding the high-performance mindset.

“On race day it’s all go; when I race it’s just all a mental mind game.”

Kate’s rise in para-tri has been swift, so much so she’s barely

had the time to reflect on what has been a remarkable transition from one elite level sport to another. Equestrian had been second nature to Kate since she was six years old, you’d expect her to think about the ‘whats’ and ‘ifs’. ‘What if she stayed in equestrian? Where would she be now?’ Kate’s not one to dwell on the past and refuses to live with regrets that will potentially hold her back moving into the future. Obviously horse riding was a major component in her life, but Kate lives knowing she satisfied that passion to its potential.

“Once I made the decision to close that chapter of my life, I had to really give myself the opportunity to be open to new opportunities and never let the ‘what if?’ get me,” she said.

“I never wanted to live with regrets and I never closed the door (on equestrian) until I was ready. Hence why it took four years.

“The world champs were as good as going to the Paralympics and I continued to do ablebody stuff at a higher level.

“I don’t like to look back because it’s not going to help the future. I still ride but I love triathlon, it’s so rewarding. It’s nice to be able to get on a bike, get off, put it against the wall and not have to feed it.

“Mentally I’m more suited to tri than dressage. But that being said, if I could have my horse back I probably would in a heartbeat.”

Now she’s riding, or more accurately cycling, toward an undoubtedly bright future.

The paratriathlon will take place on 10-11 September in Rio.


kate horses for courses transition

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